


the right to remain smitten

by baecobz



Series: in every universe [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Attempt at Humor, Crack, Fights, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Making Up, Prank Wars, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Rated T for swearing, lapslock, the first bit is where i try 2 be funny and the rest.... oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-09 11:25:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14715119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baecobz/pseuds/baecobz
Summary: what starts as a prank war ends in a truce and a cup of coffee.(so long as he gets a cute boyfriend out of it, mark's not going to complain.)





	the right to remain smitten

**Author's Note:**

> guys. GUYS. ive actually been working on other fics even while im writing all these daily things so!! be on the look out for other fics coming soon :))

“so. this is what it’s come to, huh?” mark stares at the empty expanse of his desk and the pathetic excuse of a chair that sits beside it. it doesn’t even have _wheels_ , instead hobbling back and forth on the uneven legs. mark’s pretty sure he can see rust flaking off of the bottom, peeking through the torn fabric. and don’t even get him started on the stains- he’s not sure what they’re all from, but he knows that he doesn’t care so long as it gets out of his sight.

“he came early to work just to do it.” jaehyun adds, and mark stares as jaehyun shrugs back. “i couldn’t stop him, man. you know how it is.”

mark hisses “traitor” because he can; even though he knows that jaehyun- and the entire rest of the squad, honestly- can’t pick sides, he still feels betrayed when his friend lets yukhei desecrate his desk like this. it’s his _desk_ , after all- how is he supposed to do work without one?

he voices his opinion to taeyong when he walks by on his way to his office (his stupidly clean, air-conditioned office), and taeyong laughs.

“it’s not like you work much to begin with.”

“ _hey!_ ”

“i’m kidding, i’m kidding,” taeyong slaps a hand on his shoulder, still smiling, “but maybe you should’ve thought about that before you completely disassembled _his_ last week.”

mark can’t even say anything to that, instead resigning himself to a fate without proper pens or office supplies for the rest of the day. he’ll stand, too, just out of spite. you know, may his action be a giant _fuck you_ to yukhei and everyone encouraging the stupidly tall asshole.

it started like this: when mark first transferred to the city taskforce, he couldn’t even hide his excitement. his childhood dream finally come true, he had pictured his first day a hundred times- reuniting with his old supervisor (now as captain and detective), meeting the rest of the squad, getting used to moving around the precinct, the whole nine yards. that’s when he made it to the department building and found the culmination of his hopes and dreams all crumbling to his feet.

because had anyone told him about the other detective transferring in as well? somehow, it had slipped everyone’s minds (mark’s still not sure how that happened when yukhei’s like ten feet of muscle and laughter, but whatever) and left mark fighting to get rookie privileges before yukhei’s stupidly enormous hands got to them first.

what had started as simply nudging each other out of the way when new assignments came out slowly turned into what taeil describes as a full on, mtv-style prank war.

(mark resents that. one, mtv sucks. second and most important reason? _war_ implies that yukhei has a chance-- it’s not a war, it’s a _slaughter_.)

“don’t you think you’re taking this a bit too seriously?” jeno laughs at the affronted look on mark’s face. “just-- you guys would be a great pair if you stopped messing with each other so much.”

“i’m not interested in him like that!”

“i meant as _detectives_.” jeno makes a pained face. “you know mark, sometimes i wonder how you even managed to become a cop when you only have two brain cells.”

“we all wonder that.” donghyuck chimes in, cackling as he and jeno high five. it only adds to mark’s distress (and growing reasons as to why he should be allowed to blackmail his colleagues), so he kicks the nasty excuse of a chair in their direction and busies himself trying to find a computer to use for the day. _fucking yukhei_ , mark thinks.

“oh, hey mark!” and speak of the devil. yukhei grins as he slings a bag full of files onto his desk. his expression is far too smug for someone who was screaming over a snake in his drawer just yesterday, but. perhaps today he’s won. “if you need your computer, i left it in the break room.”

“oh.” mark squints, trying to discern if there’s anything more to yukhei’s admission. normally, the other would just let mark flounder around for help, but perhaps today is different.

everyone should get a second chance, after all. mark knows that more than most of the precinct can even understand.

he makes his way to the break room, humming drake songs under his breath and pretending not to see the glint in yukhei’s eyes as he leaves. as soon as taeyong pulls yukhei aside into the debriefing room, he makes his way to yukhei’s desk. whether mark’s own computer is actually in the break room or not isn’t important. what _is_ , though, is the fact that yukhei’s own is left unattended. they both know his runs faster, anyways.

when yukhei ends up using mark’s computer (it actually was in the break room, but was only reachable on the other end of an entire floor covered with plastic cups of water), he doesn’t stop pouting for the entire rest of the day, so.

mark thinks technically he still won today’s battle.

\--

“you’re reverting to bad habits.” johnny hums once, when he’s dropping off paperwork on mark’s desk. mark jerks away from his monitor (the letters have been blurring together for awhile, so it’s only legible if he stares at it from a few inches away) to stare at him.

“uh, what?”

“you heard me. i thought you were a cop now. c’mon, mark; we both know you’re enjoying this more than you should.” pause. “it’s not _just_ because you think yukhei is cute.”

“first of all, i don’t.” mark swats away johnny’s condescending pats on the shoulder, “and second, i have no idea what you’re talking about. that was a long time ago, johnny.” he ignores the unwavering gaze from the other, ducking his head to continue following along with the report taeil sent him the other day.

he’s _changed_ , whether anyone else sees it or not. besides, he knows this little thing between him and yukhei is harmless; they never hurt each other, never really completely stop each other from doing their jobs. and mark’s never gotten angry. that’s the main point, and the biggest one- if mark had blown up about it, then yeah, maybe he’d be worrying that johnny’s right. but mark hasn’t, so he has no reason to overthink it.

(that doesn’t stop him from going home that night, hands fisted in his hair as he remembers that old habits die hard, and sometimes he just wants to push yukhei far enough to see him break. he pushes the thought down, buried in his chest beneath all the skeletons in his closet, and opens up his laptop. he may as well get a head start on some research if he’s up this late, anyways.)

\--

maybe johnny’s statement bothers mark more than it should.

while he’d always considered himself a pretty good guy, he knew that he had done some questionable things in the past. but that was the point- it was in the past, shoved away into some dusty memory album that mark plans on burning whenever he gets the chance.

it haunts him, just a little bit, but he ignores it in favor of covering yukhei’s locker and chair with double-sided tape.

that’s what he does best. mess around, laugh a little, and pretend not to see how everything’s coming to a tipping point sooner or later.

\--

as luck would have it, the point comes sooner.

he tosses his things onto his desk, murmuring half-hearted greetings to his squad members when they walk by. taeil gives him a hesitant smile, and mark figures it’s because of the bags under his own eyes. he doesn’t even consider that it could be taeil’s conscience knowing that one of yukhei’s pranks is just waiting for mark to fall victim to it, and that’s his first mistake.

he sits down just as he says _good morning_ to yuta, and the barely-growing smile on his face fades completely when he hears the standard “plbtlpblt” of a whoopie cushion.

it’s not even that funny- it’s something straight out of an elementary schooler’s comic book, filled to the brim with corny sound effects and bad jokes. definitely not up to par with most of yukhei’s past pranks, and mark knows in the back of his mind that it’s a good thing that it’s not.

and normally, it would be fine, but.

today is a bad day.

mark is tired and grumpy and probably hasn’t gotten a good night’s rest in days- the last thing he needed was another one of yukhei’s stupid pranks waiting for him at the precinct.

(he’s got enough there, anyways, thanks to the pile up of cases with the heat stroke taunting the city. the entire department had been overwhelmed with cases and paperwork lately, especially with nearby squads losing some of their best detectives- they weren’t killed, thank god, but the injuries were certainly enough to put them out of commission for awhile. less detectives only means more work, and mark has been suffering the brunt of it. it was partially his fault, agreeing to help with so many cases, but his coworkers have always relied on him for certain things when it comes to registering evidence and such, so his workload only grows as the days go on.)

he stands up slowly, eyes trained on yukhei as he gets up. the elder can’t seem to pick apart the expression on mark’s face until mark is dragging him aside by the wrist, carefully ignoring the tired _minhyung, please_ that yuta mumbles on their way out.

mark has enough to control to keep his mouth shut even as he pushes yukhei inside a storage closet, hands finding a comfortable space fisting the front of yukhei’s collared uniform. he shoves him, hard, but somehow manages enough restraint to avoid yukhei’s back hitting the other wall. he lets go, breathes hard and looks away for a moment in a useless attempt to calm down.

yukhei makes a small, confused noise, and the idea that he has no idea how _annoying_ he’s been lately (not him, but his pranks-- it’s a distinction his head’s too muddled to make, despite its importance) only fuels mark’s frustration.

“i swear to _god_ , you giant idiot,” mark hisses, pushing an angry finger against yukhei’s chest and feeling that familiar ugly satisfaction when yukhei jolts back, “you act like such a child, i don’t even know how you got here. keep your bullshit immature jokes to yourself from now on, alright? if you keep this up, i’m going to quit just so i don’t have to put up with your stupid antics anymore. you’re unbelievable.”

yukhei’s unbearably still under mark’s gaze, but the wide-eyed hesitancy in his eyes is enough for mark to know that his point is clear. he steps back, huffing, and storms back to his desk.

when he sits down, donghyuck moves like he’s going to talk to him, but then mark can see the hand that johnny puts on his shoulder, the way he moves to whisper something into the other’s ear. donghyuck deflates, but mark’s too busy shoving papers around and clicking just a bit too forcefully on his keyboard to notice.

he ends the day even more behind on his work than usual, but by the time he makes it back to his apartment, he’s not even thinking about it-- instead, he’s too busy regretting how _right_ it had felt to yell at yukhei, to push against him and try to rile him up.

(needless to say, he sleeps less that night than he had the past few.)

\--

after a long, embarrassing talk (mark’s never been good with talking about his mistakes- acknowledging it is one thing, but to go over it with a sort of parental figure in your life is just mortifying) with jaehyun about responsibilities and consequences, mark finds himself standing by yukhei’s locker, hesitating. their so-called prank war has come to a complete halt, and mark can’t even bring himself to reinitiate it when he knows he has to apologize first. no sense of normalcy can be forced after he had just gone _off_ at yukhei, after all.

he only has to wait a few minutes before yukhei is coming into the room, quickly hiding his surprise in favor of stuffing his jacket into his locker. mark leans against the lockers beside him in a desperate attempt to seem like he’s not just moments away from running away. he owes yukhei this much.

“i, uh-- i haven’t seen any whoopie cushions lately. or, like, anything.”

“yeah, of course not.” yukhei raises an eyebrow at him, his usual puppy-like grin not quite reaching the edges of his cheeks. “i just--” yukhei falters again. it’s not like him to hesitate so much before he speaks, and there’s something uneasy about the way he shifts from foot to foot that makes mark’s entire chest tighten. “that thing you said the other day. i don’t know if you meant it, but- i didn’t want to risk it. we can’t afford to lose someone like you.” he says it with his eyes on the ground, like he wouldn’t be able to if he looked mark in the eyes. it’s a little unsettling, maybe, because that’s how mark knows that he’s telling the truth.

“what do you mean, someone like me?”

“a good detective. a good person.”

yukhei looks back up at mark then, the way he does when he’s so ridiculously sure about something, and mark’s entire throat constricts with regret.

“listen, i’m really sorry about what i said. i shouldn’t have snapped at you, i just--” he hesitates, but yukhei just watches him, more patiently than mark had seen before, “bad habits.” a defeated sigh escapes past his lips, and it sounds smaller than he’d like, but he figures that yukhei deserves to be able to see mark like this, at least. “i’m not trying to use that as an excuse, but i want you to know it wasn’t your fault.”

“it’s cool, i understand.” that smile then, the one slowly growing across yukhei’s face in all of its beautiful hesitancy, is so achingly genuine that mark swears he can hear his heart skip a beat. “are we good?”

“if you say we are.” mark’s own smile feels awkward after the onslaught of worries and self-deprecating fears, but it still feels natural enough when yukhei’s beaming back at him.

“of course, man. besides, i’ve been told that i should feel special for being able to rile you up so much.” he adds in an over exaggerated wink, and mark laughs, pushing at his shoulder (lightly).

“don’t feel too special,” he smiles, “most of the squad pisses me off more than you ever could.”

“oh?” yukhei’s grin only grows at that point, and mark snorts at the sight of it. a smug yukhei is an overconfident yukhei, and an overconfident yukhei is prone to blurting out embarrassing things or tripping into doorways. “you’re lucky you’re cute, mark lee.”

“thanks.” he shoots it back fast enough that he hopes yukhei can’t see the way his fingers fidget with the hems of his sleeves. judging by the way yukhei’s own hands seem to struggle to even rest inside his pockets, mark figures he’s safe. “hey, i’ll make it up to you. what kind of coffee do you like?”

yukhei startles a little, the way he does when he gets too caught up in his own head to remember that there are people around him, and mark smiles against the slow budding of something in his chest.

“uh, sweet stuff? like frappuccinos?”

“gotcha. look forward to that tomorrow, okay?” yukhei can only nod back as mark gives his arm a quick squeeze and walks back to the break room to pick up a file he left the other day.

he only makes it a few yards before he’s grinning against his fist, heartbeat picking up in his ears because he had finally, _finally_ had a successful positive interaction with yukhei after months of bitterly crushing on the elder.

crushes were fine, maybe, but the feeling rising in mark’s lungs right now? nothing can top that.

**Author's Note:**

> fun facts abt this universe:  
> -if u cldnt tell it's based heavily off of b99!! the best show!!!!  
> -mark grew up in a sh*tty town where he got roped into some bad stuff but!! johnny and taeyong reached out to him from their spot in the police academy and helped him break out of it. theyre the reason he wanted 2 be a cop!!  
> -mark called yukhei cute one (1) time but refuses to admit it (the rest of the squad nvr lets him live it down)  
> -mark and hyuck used to be partners, but now hyuck's dating jaemin and they spend more time doing stakeouts and paperwork tgt  
> -meanwhile mark and yukhei r the couple tht go bust ppls butts tgt!! how romantic
> 
> uhhHHH so yeah um!! this fic was kind of a mess but i hope u liked reading it regardless!!!! if u have any questions or ideas or just wanna chat, hmu on [curious cat](http://curiouscat.me/6woojin) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/woo6in)!! also huge huge thanks to the angels leaving kudos/bookmarks/comments!! u guys mean the world to me I LOV U!!


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